Fast for Our Families

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Why We Are Fasting

On New Year’s Eve, a half dozen of us had our last meal and entered St. Ann’s Mission in Naranja, Florida, just south of Miami. We have vowed to consume only liquids and not eat another meal until the Obama Administration hears the voices of all the families torn apart by deportation. We need the Administration to act in its executive authority now to:

1. Suspend the deportation of immigrants with American families, especially families with U.S. citizen children or spouses until Congress acts to fix the broken immigration system. 

2. Send the Secretary of Homeland Security to South Florida to meet with us, the fasters, and hear from us firsthand the conditions that moved us to fast.

In the meantime, we will continue our fast indefinitely. We are asking all those of conscience, especially those that are losing a friend or family member to the broken immigration system, to join us in the Fast for Our Families.

Support the Trail of DREAMs

On January 1st, 2010, a small team of brave, passionate young immigrant students from Florida’s Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER) will embark on a 4-month long, 1,500 mile walk – the Trail of Dreams. As they travel through the southeastern United States, this courageous group will be seeking meetings with political and civic leaders, joining in rallies and vigils, and reaching out to the media - galvanizing support for immigration policy reform in communities that might otherwise be without a voice.       

Visit the Trail of DREAMs at: http://trailofdreams.net/Home.html

Statements of Support

Thank you to all who took such a risk on behalf of so many, to raise voices and publicize the plight of the immigrants. Your efforts were effective in raising public awareness and more important, raising the level of compassion and connection, for those who were not yet focused on this injustice. We salute you and pledge support for future efforts. We have been featuring your story in our newsletter and on our twitter.

- Daniella Levine, Executive Director, Human Services Coalition of Dade County, Inc.


I saw this [article on the Fast ending] yesterday on the website. I know this was a heartbreaking decision, after more than two weeks with those brave people putting their lives on the line in the cause of keeping their families together, but with all attention at all levels of government--and in the community--now focused on Haiti, I think it was wise to move this fight in another direction.

I'd like to say I can't believe Napolitano didn't make that trip one mile down the road, but I can; it was the vice-president's trip and she was part of the photo op for him, I guess. Almost impossible to get officials to concentrate on more than one thing at a time--and it's much easier to talk about helping Haiti than to tackle the politically explosive issue of immigrant rights and keeping families together.

At least we've finally got TPS for Haitians...

Let me know what's next.

- Mary W. Cox, Director of Communications, Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida

Please give my love and appreciation to the fasters for all they have done and gone through for the defense of their families and other families in our community.  I hope that they know that every action for justice is a victory over evil even if the actual results are slow in coming.

-The Rev. Cori Olson, St. Luke the Physician Episcopal Church, Kendall, FL


I'm sorry the fast didn't get the response we all wanted, but it has left a mark. As always, I admire your courage and that of the fasters, their families and those who fought with you.

-Steven Wetstein



Open Solidarity Letter from the Hispanic/Latino Coalition Advocacy Committee of Louisville, the KY May Day Coalition, and the KY Interfaith Taskforce on Latin America and the Caribbean (KITLAC)



“Personally, I feel that President Obama needs to make a decision now. I’m tired of seen my friends stop attending school due to extremely high payments or hearing stories of abuse. We need to tell the world that we cannot wait any longer; this is a real problem and it needs a real solution.” - Iris Almonacid, S.W.E.R.



Statement on why I'm doing a Solidarity Fast by Deborah de Santos


Message from Luis Mendez Jr., a native resident of Homestead, Florida